


The Sword of the Wise

by GaiusDumplingAreBestDumplings



Series: The Royal Arms from FFXV [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: A lot of O/C's, Also the Cosmogony, Based on the Royal Arms descriptions, Everyone's an O/C pretty much, FFXV is so vague, I hope it's good, I made everything else up, I'm an Ardyn Sympathizer, Not a Love Story, So plz read, The Major Character Death isn't bad, like seriously, this was fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-08 02:29:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11637063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaiusDumplingAreBestDumplings/pseuds/GaiusDumplingAreBestDumplings
Summary: The story of the king who wielded the Sword of The Wise and why he became one of the 13 Royal Arms... and Ardyn's here too!





	The Sword of the Wise

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> So I have no idea if this is going to be good or not, but I got inspired from the descriptions of the Royal Arms in FFXV so I wanted to make sort of a background story for each of them. This is my first and I'm not sure if I should continue or not but... we'll see, I guess. Also, I tried making as many ties as I could with the actual game, but if there are any inaccuracies, I'm sorry. Eos' history is so vague!
> 
> ...I don't own Final Fantasy XV or the characters, by the way...

Sometimes, life takes an unexpected turn. One of these turns just happened to land on a young woman named Anima. Due to serious financial difficulties, she found herself in the tavern, finding favor with the rich, lonely men who needed to get drunk and feel a rush of some sort. That night changed her life, and would eventually bring change to all of Eos.  
...

"Vita! Come here!" Anima shouted as loud as she could. A figure dashed up like lightning at her side,

"Mom, what is it this time?" Vita complained.

"What? Is there something better for you to be doing?"

"No... not really, but -"

"No 'but's! Did you take things from the Doctor's medical cabinets?" Vita hung his head down low, and Anima couldn't believe it, "I can't believe it! Do you realize that this job is what puts food on your plate? What were you planning on doing with all this stuff anyways? Sell it? Play tricks on people with it?"

"No...but... I swear there's a good reason for this..."

Anima sighed and put her hand to her forehead. She never signed up to be a mother. If it weren't for her job at the clinic, she wouldn't have been able to keep her son. In fact, she wouldn't have even been able to provide for herself. She loved Vita dearly, as any mother would, but no matter how much she tried drilling good morals and manners into his head, he kept getting into trouble.

"A-anyways... um, Mom?" Asked Vita,

"Yes?" Snapped Anima, still hysteric over her son's actions,

"Can... can I go, please? I'm really sorry,"

Anima gave him a big frown, "Instead of apologizing, you should bring back what you took!"

Vita looked down at the floor and refused to look into his mother's eyes, "That's... impossible," he said in a small voice,

Anima sighed deeply. After a few seconds of silence, she looked at her son in disappointment and confusion, "Fine. Go. Just be back for supper," she breathed, "but this isn't over, got that?" She added quickly and sternly.

"Thanks, Mom," said Vita, giving her a quick hug and then rushing off. Anima shook her head. She was pretty sure no kid would ever have the gall to ask something of their mother while being scolded. Well, looks like she was wrong.  
...

An excited, unfazed, Vita ran through the town of Keycatrich. A while out of town stood a narrow pathway in the mountains that led to an opening. In the middle was a seriously but messily bandaged up man lying underneath a piece of cloth propped up by sticks as some sort of make-shift tent.

"Sorry I was gone so long! But, I got some fresh water and some herbs for you! I also brought some bread, since you seem hungry," Vita said, rushing up and sitting down beside the man. He took off his satchel and opened it up to reveal the items he had mentioned.

"Why are you doing this? Didn't you steal that?" The injured man asked. 

"Can't you see yourself? You'll die if I don't do anything! I don't know why you're so against my telling anyone about you. They can help," Vita complained, but still put the water to the man's mouth and let him drink. The man chuckled a bit,

"Trust me, I won't die."

"Nobody's immortal, you know. And even if you were, then that's all the more reason to help! I can't let you live in pain forever, can I?" He said with a smile.

"You don't know me. If you knew me, you would leave me here to suffer,"

"What? Are you a criminal? Murderer? Or even worse... are you my Father?" Vita burst out laughing, "Don't worry. I don't care if you're a criminal. The law will deal with you if that's the case. That's still not an excuse to let you die." He started grinding some of the herbs and making a paste out of them,

"You're a good kid." The man chuckled, "I wish you could stay this way forever," He paused, "Tell me your name, boy,"

"Vita. Yours?" Vita answered.

"Ardyn," The man replied, "Vita, one day, I promise I'll repay you... that is, if you still want to be repayed by me,"

Vita just laughed, "That's okay! I'm not helping you so that you can repay me,"

"How old are you now, Vita?" Ardyn asked, smiling.

"I'm 12! Why?"

"Good, you're of a good age. I have something for you in my tunic where you put it over there,"

Vita cocked his head. He looked over and spotted the clothes he had put away to better bandage up the wounds on the man. Ardyn pushed him to go see. Vita went over and rummaged through the clothes. He took out a compass and showed it to the man, who shook his head. He then took out a dagger, and, a bit surprised, showed it to Ardyn, who, again, shook his head. Finally, after a few more trials and errors, he took out the last item that was in there: a simple sword.

"This can't be it, can it? No man in their right mind would give a poor kid my age a sword! Especially not a sword like this one, right?" Vita laughed, and as he was about to put it down, Ardyn smiled and said,

"That's what I wanted to give you." When Vita turned to him with big eyes, he added, "Don't worry. It's not a big deal. Think of it as a part of my repaying you," He paused, "Vita, come closer,"

The boy went over to his patient's side, the sword limply in his hand. Ardyn scanned his features and huffed,

"If only everyone were as innocent and kind as a child," He smiled at Vita and Vita smiled at him, not sure what to say, "there would be a lot less problems in the world. Vita, don't ever become an adult."

Vita laughed awkwardly, "You're a weird guy, Ardyn. I promise then, if I can help it, I won't become like an adult... I guess... Now eat this," He fed the man an herb. "I'm going to put this paste on your wounds. It might hurt, so that'll numb your senses for a while." Ardyn gave him an astonished look,

"Wait, what did you just... Aagh!" He cried out as the paste burned against his bare skin.

"Whoops, I guess it takes a while to take effect," Vita apologized sheepishly. "Your leg is broken too, so I'll need to find proper plaster to bandage it. For now, I'm sorry, you'll have to wait a while... and DON'T MOVE, alright?"

Ardyn laughed in pain, "Sure thing, Doc, I've got all the time in the world,"

After Vita finished applying the paste, he bandaged Ardyn back up. He fed Ardyn the bread he brought and then lay down.

"It's probably almost dinner time by now. I need to go," Vita said, getting up. He started leaving, when Ardyn called him back,

"You'll be coming back, right?"

Vita turned and smiled at him, "Yeah! I mean, I'll come as much as I can until you're well again,"

"Then, while you're here, I could start teaching you how to use that sword, if you'd like,"

Vita beamed. "Yeah!" He said, then took off.  
...

"Vita! Where were you? The food's getting cold already!" Anima shouted as her son finally showed up at the dinner table. Ashamed, Vita rubbed the back of his head,

"I'm sorry, Mom. I wasn't keeping track of time,"

Anima hugged her son. "No, don't be," she said softly, "I've been harsh on you for the past few days for no reason. I really want to trust you, you know, it's just that... times have been hard lately and things aren't going well at the clinic and you getting in trouble all the time doesn't help,"

Vita looked up at her and pulled back from his mother, "Mom, I really am sorry for stealing the herbs today, and I know that I haven't done anything for you to trust me, but please, I have a good reason, and I might take herbs again, so I just want you to know that I wouldn't just do it for something silly,"

Anima looked at him in awe, "You might take more?" She thought about it, then said, "I can't let you do that if you can't tell me the reason for it... I'm sorry, but the clinic is losing money to buy them as it is,"

Vita thought long and hard about it. Surely, it wouldn't hurt if he told only her, right? He promised Ardyn he wouldn't speak a word about it, though. But... Ardyn would die if he didn't get treated with the proper medicine, and if he could get his mom on board, she could help him get the plaster for his friend's broken leg.

"Actually, I found a fatally injured man outside of town! He told me I couldn't tell anyone that I saw him and that I should leave him alone, but I couldn't just go! That's why I took the herbs to treat his wounds. Also, he has a broken leg and I don't have any way to get plaster for it," Vita finally blurted out. Anima listened attentively, then spoke,

"I see... but it would be best to bring him to the clinic in that case. How about this: We can send a few people out and you can bring them to this man. They can bring him back to the clinic so we can treat him properly,"

Vita thought about it. "No, that won't do. You work there and you know medicine better than me, so can't you come with me alone? I'm afraid that they'll let him die. He told me that if I knew who he was, I would leave him. He might be a criminal,"

Anima thought about her son's idea, "Fine. I understand where you're coming from. You get your sense of justice from me, after all. I'll go with you tomorrow after work, but if it looks like he needs to be taken to a proper doctor, then I have to tell others, alright?"

Vita smiled, "Thanks so much, Mom,"

"Great, now, please, let's eat,"  
...

The next morning, Vita happily ran to his mom's work place to pick her up so they could visit Ardyn.

"What? Is that why you're here?" Vita heard his mom say through the door. He pressed his ear against it to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Yes. They almost had him, but he slipped through their fingers and should, theoretically, be somewhere near Keycatrich," Vita couldn't recognize the man's voice.

"So, you're saying that The Wicked could be hiding in this area?"

"Yes. Are you sure you haven't treated a patient with red-violet hair and amber eyes, appearing about your age?" The man talking to Anima asked. Vita heard the crinkling of paper, presumably a sketch of the man being described. Out of curiosity, he opened the door very slowly to try and peek at the sketch. To his dismay, the old door was not on his team, making a giant CREEAAAKKK at the small movement. Vita jumped in surprise as the door flung open and all eyes were on him.

"Vita?" His mom whispered.

"Do you know this boy?" Asked the man beside her, putting down the sketch. Vita could now clearly see his imperial garb, meaning he came from Insomnia, and more than that, he worked for the king. Vita bowed his head, heart quickening because he didn't know what kind of punishment awaited eavesdroppers.

"Yes. I'm sorry, Sir, it's just my son," replied Anima.

The man looked him down, then huffed, "Lad, I expect you to keep anything you heard to yourself, got that?" Vita nodded zealously.

He went over and hugged his mother, half because he was still terrified of the men, half because he was still curious over the sketch, and had a sinking feeling it was who he thought it was. He glanced inconspicuously over at the desk where the sketch lay, and his heart sunk; the outcome was surprising yet expected.

The Wicked was Ardyn.

He looked up at his mom, "Mom, what's 'The Wicked'?"

She looked at him in surprise, then at the Imperial guy, who broke the silence, "Lad, you see, a long time ago, there was a man, a very bad man, who was rejected by the Astrals and forbidden from Ascension after having absorbed a huge amount of daemons. He became the immortal embodiment of darkness. They say that one day, he'll taint the entire world with the Starscourge and only the True King will be able to stop him,"

Vita looked at the ground. He was deep in thought.

"Tell us if you see anything of use," said the man to Anima.

"Mhm, I will, don't worry," replied Anima. The man took his sketch and tucked it away, then walked out the door, motioning for his groupies to follow. Anima turned to Vita who released her.

"I'm sorry you had to stand through that boring adult talk," she said with a laugh, "now, weren't you going to bring me to your friend?"

"U-um...yeah..." Vita replied. If Anima saw Ardyn, she would report him and they would take him away. He'd rot in prison.

Vita took her out of town. He looked to the east. He walked for about ten minutes, then looked to the west. He retraced his steps then walked ten minutes in the opposite direction. From where he ended up, he walked five minutes south before turning to his mom,

"It seems he... he's gone! I could've sworn he was around here somewhere! He must not have been hurt as bad as I thought and walked away," Vita said convincingly.

"Vita? I thought you said it was fatal," 

"Well... I might've been exaggerating just a bit,"

His mother sighed deeply. She obviously thought that this was a waste of her time, especially since she took a whole bunch of supplies to treat her son's newfound friend.

"I'm sorry," said Vita.

"It's okay, you're a kid being a kid, that's all,"  
...

"Hey, Vita, you didn't come yesterday," Ardyn said, as Vita came the next day with a needle, some thread, a towel, some stockinette, a cotton bandage roll, a bucket of water, and a roll of plaster bandages, everything his mom had prepared the day before.

"Yeah, sorry, something really important came up," he replied.

"Nah, it's fine, I'm just... thirsty, that's all," he said, trying to cover up how disappointed he was yesterday.

Vita let Ardyn drink, then proceeded to explain what he was going to do,

"So, two days ago, I wanted to disinfect the wounds, and I was planning on doing this yesterday, but today is gonna have to do, so I'm going to sew you up and bandage your leg!"

"Ugh, great, I'm being treated by a 12 year old. I feel so safe," Ardyn laughed.

"Hold this in your mouth, and bite down on it when I start," Vita said, putting the towel he brought into Ardyn's mouth.

"Okay..." Vita continued as he unwrapped the bandages, cleaned the wounds, threaded the needle and disinfected everything, "Now, bite down!"

Ardyn did so.

After a few long hours, Vita was done with the sewing and the plaster for the broken leg.

"Gee, thanks, kid," Ardyn said.

"No problem," Vita said, rubbing sweat off of his friend's forehead with the towel, then off his own. "Everything should heal in between 4-8 weeks, other than the leg, but at least you'll be able to move soon,"

"So, if you prop me up, I can start teaching you how to use your sword, if you want,"  
...

By the end of the day, Vita went home thoroughly tired. Going to see Ardyn became routine for the next three months. One day, he ran excitedly to the clearing to find everything Vita had brought over time packed up neatly. Ardyn was nowhere to be found.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again!
> 
> I tried to make it seem like maybe Ardyn likes kids, or maybe it's because he's injured that he opens up so much to Vita. It could be that he just doesn't see any reason to put up any fronts since he doesn't really expect to see him ever again. I also know nothing about treating wounds, so take it with a grain of salt. I really hope there aren't any really big details from the game that I missed and I really hope you enjoyed this! I want to try and upload again soon!


End file.
